Machine for making wall-ties.



J. H. BAU. A MACHINE POR MAKING WALL TIES.

APPLICATION FILED 00T. 18, 1907.

Patented Nov. 24, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

(Th ITTI rn: Nakms Pfr-mns col, wAswmcroN. mc,

J. H. RAU.

MACHINE FOR MAKING WALL TIES.

APPLICATION FILED 00T.18, 1907.

Patented Nov. 24, 1908.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

wm www w w s. MM @i y Mm 2...., .A ,/Wl@ n M/Wd f m 1 .L 73, m f F m yWzlnesls'els UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. RAU, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO ALLAN R. RAFF AND OTTOCADEN, BOTH OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOHN H. BAU, a citizen of the United States,residing at the city of Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and Stateof Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machinesfor Making Wall-Ties, of which the following is a specication.

The object of my invention is to produce a cheap, simple and efficientmechanism for feeding lengths of wire to a set of mandrels on movingcarriages, automatically moving said mandrels together so that the wireat each end is formed or wound over the mandrel to assume a definiteshape (in the present instance triangular) and then automaticallyallowing said carriages with the mandrels to move apart and assume anormal position, ready to again come together with the next length ofwire. The wire is by this operation formed into a wall tie shown in thedrawing and is used in binding rebrick, terra cotta, hollow walls, stoneashler and the like in building operation.

The features of the invention and its advantages will readily becomeapparent from the following specifications and claims:

In the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, Figure lis a plan view of my machine. Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof. Fig.3 is an end elevation thereof. Fig. 4 is a section on line 4, 4, of Fig.3. Fig. 5 is a section on line 5, 5, of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a plan view ofone of the wall ties made by the machine.

A framework or table 1 supported on legs 2 is provided. On this table, Iconnect by screws 3 guide pieces 4, 4, preferably of the form shown inFig. 5. They may be made of any other shape. These guide pieces 4, 4,extend up a line with t-he length of the table and stand up at a rightangle thereto. On supports 5, 5, and journaled or housed therein is ascrew or shaft 6, having at one end a right-hand thread 7 and at itsother end a left-hand screw-thread 8. At each end on the screw 6, Iprovide a carriage 9 which works in the space 10 (see Figs. 1 and 5).This carriage is preferably of an I beam shape, so as to properly travelin the space 10 and be supported in position on the guides 4, 4. Thiscarriage may be of any other shape or contour. These carriages 9, 9,have Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led October 18,

hollow posts as 11 extending up from their upper faces (see practicallyFig. 5) A gear l Patented Nov. 24, 1908. 1907. Serial No. 398,100.

wheel 12 and a mandrel 13 made integral are slipped over the hollow post11 and held in place by a screw 14. The teeth on gear 12 are marked 15.The mandrel 13 in the present instance is triangular in shape. It may beof any other shape and the mandrel 13 and gear 12 be made separate orintegral as desired.

At each side of the guards or guide ways 4, 4, at their top edge and atthe points where the gear 12 and mandrel 13 work and operate, I provideracks as 16 screwed in place on the guide pieces 4 by screws 17 theracks having teeth 18 (see practically Fig. 5). The teeth on gear 12mesh with teeth 18 on rack 16 when the machine is operating.

The screw 6 passes through the carriages 9, 9, the carriages being boredand screw threaded, so that the screw threads on the shaft or screw 6will when operating force the carriages 9, 9, to move towards or awayfrom one another, that is, inward and outward.

On the racks 16, at their top edge, I fasten guide lingers 50 (two oneach rack) one extending inwardly to a greater degree than the other,their inner edges being inclined so that they can support and guide thewire in its diagonal position. The wire bears against the inclinedupturned edges 51 of said lingers and impinges against said edges whenbeing wound around the mandrels 13.

A central guide piece and support 19 is provided. It is of shape shownin Fig. 1, carries a diagonal recess 20, and is screwed to the guidepieces 4, 4, by screws 21. The mandrels 13 are also each provided withSuch a diagonal recess marked 22. The wire or strips 23 lies in theserecesses 20 and 22 so as to be guided, supported and held in a positionwhile being operated upon.

At one end screw or shaft 6 is provided with a gear wheel 24, a collar25 (see Fig. 4) holding the shaft 6 and thus the gear 24. in proper lineand preventing play.

I will now describe the mechanism which operates the screw shaft 6.

A shaft 26 housed on supports 27 is provided. At one end the shaftcarries a pulley 28. On this shaft 26 I connect in some suitable mannerthree segmental gears or sectors 29, 30 and 3l; the smaller sectors 30and 31 mesh with the gear 24 on screw 6, alternating in their contactwith said gear, one, say sector 30 when in contact with gear 24,

moving the screw so that the carriages 9, gear 12 and mandrels 13 willmove towards each other or inward and say when sector 31, meshes withgear 24, the said mechanism will move apart, away and back into normalvposition. In this operation the teeth 15 on gear 12 mesh with the teeth13 on racks 16. The larger sector gear 29 is connected with themechanism for feeding the wire, which I shall now describe. One of thesupports 27 (see Fig. 3) extends upward forming arms 32 and 33. In arm32 is journaled small wire feed roller 34 and on arm 33 on a short shaft34 is fastened a gear wheel 35 and a large wire feed roller 36 (see Fig.3). The wire 23 off roll 33 passes between these rollers 34 and 36 andis fed by them into the machine. 1When the sector 29 meshes with gear35, the large roller 36 is turned and it turns the small roller 34, thewire 23 between them and feeds it forward, when the sector gear 29 isnot in mesh with the gear' 35 the feeding of the wire stops and at thistime it is necessary to cut the wire as the requisite length of wire hasbeen fed and this mechanism for cutting the wire I shall now describe.

On a support 39 at end of guide 4, 4, (see Figs. 1 and 2) I provide andconnect in any suitable manner an edge 40 and a cutter knife 41, pivotedor hinged at 42 and operated by handle 43. The operator by pushing downthe cutter knife 41, cuts the wire. Any other form of cutter or cuttingmechanism may be employed for severing the wire into desired lengths.

The wire before it passes into the machine must be straight. For thispurpose I provide one of the ordinary straightening devices consistingof a series of guides and rollers 44, 45, supported on a support 46 (seeFigs. 1 and 2). The wire 23 in passing through this series of guides androllers 44, 45, has all kinks and uneven places removed and passes intothe machine even and straight.

The machine operates as follows, to wit: A belt (not shown) is placedover the pulley 2S turning the pulley and thus revolving the shaft 26.`Sector 29 being on this shaft 26, it is revolved therewith and when itcomes in contact and meshes with gear 35, and consequently the roller 36is revolved, imparting motion to roller 34 carrying wire 23 between themand feeding it into the guides.' As soon as the sector 29 has passedover the face of gear wheel 35, the feeding stops, as enough wire hasbeen fed into the machine to make one wall tie. At this point and whilethe feeding is stopped, the operator cuts the wire with cutter knife 41by working it with the handle 43 (see Fig. 1). At this point themechanism for forming the tie comes into play, as the shaft 26 alsocauses the sector gears 30 and 31 to revolve with it. In revolving theteeth on sector gears 30 and 31 mesh the teeth on gear 24, which gear 24being on screw 6 causes said'scre'w to revolve and by revolving saidscrew shaft 6, the carriages 9, carrying the gears 12 and mandrels 13are forced to move inward or toward each other, the teeth 15 on gear 1,2meshing with the teeth 18 on racks 16, the gears 12 and mandrels 13 arerevolved in posts 11. This revolution forces the wire strip 23 to formaround the mandrels 13 (at each of its ends) g that is, the wire iswound around the mandrels and the mandrels being of a triangular shape,a triangle is made at each end of the wire and the wall tie shown inFig. 6 is the result. As soon as the tie is formed itis removed and themechanism just described is moved back into normal position ready toform another wall tie. `When the sector gear 30 is meshing with gear 24and shaft 6 is revolved, the mandrel mechanism is forced to move inwardtowards the center to form the tie and when sector gear 31 is meshingwith gear 24 and shaft 6 is revolving the mandrel mechanism is movingapart or away from the center back into a normal position ready toreceive another strip of wire to form another wall tie. By thisalternate meshing of the sectors 30 and 31 with gear 24 and the rightand left-hand screw threads on shaft 6, and the movement of carriages 9governed by the screw shaft revolutions, the mandrels and accompanyingparts are moved towards or from each other as described. The gear wheel12 is of such a diameter and the rack 16 of such length, the sectors 30and 31 of such length of face that when the sectors 30 or 31 have passedover the face of gear 24 and the gear 12 made its revolution themandrels will have formed the wall tie.

By using` sector gear of less or greater face and gears of less orgreater size than gear 13, and shorter or longer racks, and mandrels ofdierent sizes, varying sizes of wall ties can be made.

Any other mechanism than that herein described, may be employed forfeeding the wire and cutting it into lengths. The mandrels and mandrelmechanism may be otherwise formed and operated.

That I claim as new and of my invention and desire to secure by LettersPatent is:

1. In a machine for making wall ties, means for operating the same,means for cutting the wire in combination with means for guiding andsupporting the wire in the machine, carriages, mandrels mounted on saidcarriages, gear wheels attached to said mandrels, racks placed on themachine at each side of the carriages, the carriages carrying themandrels moving toward and away from each other, the mandrels revolvingas the carriages are in operation, by means of the gears on the mandrelsmeshing with the racks as the said carriages are moving toward and awayfrom each other to form the wall tie, the racks being stationary and thecarriages and mandrels operating between said racks, as set forth.

2. In a machine for making wall ties, means for guiding and supportingthe wire in the machine, mandrels, mechanism for forcing said mandrelstowards and away from eachother, the mandrels turning in oppositedirections, means for holding the wire against the mandrels as theyrevolve to form a wall tie, as set forth.

3. In a machine for making wall ties, l

means for guiding and supporting the wire in the machine, mandrels,mechanism for forcing said mandrels towards and away from each other,means for holding the wire against the mandrels as they revolve, saidwire supported and resting diagonally between said mandrels so thatloops will be formed on opposite sides of the wire to form a wall tie,as set forth.

Cincinnati, Ohio, October 9th 1907.

JOHN H. RAU. fitnesses J No. W. STREHLI, LESTER RAU.

